As the first document of the European Union (EU) the new Gender Action Plan “Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016 – 2020”, promises to take gender considerations in all EU external relations into account. Is this the beginning of a new era of the EU’s promotion of gender equality around the globe and what were the EU’s strategies until now in this regard? In her keynote to the workshop ‘Gender and Intersectionality in the European Union’s external relations” Anna van der Vleuten (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) took the audience on a tour d’horizon of the EU’s efforts to promote gender equality in the world.